Desensitizing, brutalizing. Yesterday, I read a DU post about a story [View all]
Last edited Sat Dec 6, 2025, 12:44 PM - Edit history (1)
from the Rome of gladiators and christians and lions ( post 14 helpfully provided the link). The person in the story was apparently a kind and decent person who abhored violence and bloodlust. Friends persuaded him to go to the arena with them. Although originally appalled and horrified, he soon becomes just as bloodthirsty as the rest.
Lawrence O'Donnell made a similar point in talking about showing the video of that second strike on the fishing boat. He said that one of the purposes of showing that over and over again was to get people into the same bloodthirsty, murderous mindset as pete and donnie and the rest (paraphrasing here). Deliberate programming and manipulation to desensitize us to the further horrors they are practically slavering to unleash. Of course, many are already there, they want the rest of us there also.
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